Northern California couple strike $10 million gold-coin bonanza

Feb. 26, 2014

Updated 1:25 p.m.

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Some of 1,427 Gold-Rush era U.S. gold coins are displayed at Professional Coin Grading Service in Santa Ana, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. A Northern California couple out walking their dog on their property stumbled across the modern-day bonanza: $10 million in rare, mint-condition gold coins buried in the shadow of an old tree. Nearly all of the 1,427 coins, dating from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated, mint condition, said David Hall, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service, who recently authenticated them. Although the face value of the gold pieces only adds up to about $27,000, some of them are so rare that coin experts say they could fetch nearly $1 million apiece. AP Photo/Reed Saxon

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This image provided by the Saddle Ridge Hoard discoverers via Kagin's Inc. shows one of the six decaying metal canisters filled with 1800s-era U.S. gold coins unearthed in Gold Country by two people who want to remain anonymous. The value of the treasure trove is estimated at $10 million or more. AP

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This image provided by the Saddle Ridge Hoard discoverers via Kagin's, Inc., shows one of the six decaying metal canisters filled with 1800s-era U.S. gold coins unearthed in California by two people who want to remain anonymous. The value of the "Saddle Ridge Hoard" treasure trove is estimated at $10 million or more. AP Photo/Saddle Ridge Hoard discoverers via Kagin's, Inc.

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A Northern California couple dug up U.S. gold coins worth about $10 million from their backyard. Professional Coin Grading Service in Santa Ana authenticated and graded the miraculous find. Here is one of the coins discovered - an 1892-S MS-65 $20 gold piece worth a minimum of $30-40,000. It is composed of .9675 oz. of gold. H. LORREN AU JR., STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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A Northern California couple dug up U.S. gold coins worth about $10 million from their backyard. Professional Coin Grading Service in Santa Ana authenticated and graded the miraculous find. Here is one of the coins discovered - an 1892-S MS-65 $20 gold piece worth a minimum of $30-40,000. It is composed of .9675 oz. of gold. H. LORREN AU JR., STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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David Hall, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service, poses with some of 1,427 Gold-Rush era U.S. gold coins, at his office in Santa Ana, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. A Northern California couple out walking their dog on their property stumbled across the modern-day bonanza: $10 million in rare, mint-condition gold coins buried in the shadow of an old tree. Nearly all of the 1,427 coins, dating from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated, mint condition, said Hall, who recently authenticated them. Although the face value of the gold pieces only adds up to about $27,000, some of them are so rare that coin experts say they could fetch nearly $1 million apiece. AP Photo/Reed Saxon

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A Northern California couple dug up U.S. gold coins worth about $10 million from their backyard. Professional Coin Grading Service in Santa Ana authenticated and graded the miraculous find. The couple uncovered 1,373 $20 coins, 50 $10 coins and 4 $5 coins. The total face value of the coins found is $27,000 in 1894 dollars and is worth about $10 million today. The 1892-S MS63+ $20 gold coin pictured at left is valued at about $5,000 itself. H. LORREN AU JR., STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Some of 1,427 Gold-Rush era U.S. gold coins are displayed at Professional Coin Grading Service in Santa Ana, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. A Northern California couple out walking their dog on their property stumbled across the modern-day bonanza: $10 million in rare, mint-condition gold coins buried in the shadow of an old tree. Nearly all of the 1,427 coins, dating from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated, mint condition, said David Hall, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service, who recently authenticated them. Although the face value of the gold pieces only adds up to about $27,000, some of them are so rare that coin experts say they could fetch nearly $1 million apiece. AP Photo/Reed Saxon

A record?

1974: More than 400,000 silver dollars found in the home of a Reno, Nev., man who died; later sold intact for $7.3 million

The find was like a time capsule into what life was like in 1894.

That's how David Hall, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service of Santa Ana, likened the 1,427 gold coins that a Northern California couple found last winter while walking their dog. The coins, valued at $10 million, were buried in the shadow of an old tree on their property.

Nearly all the coins, dating from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated, mint condition, said Hall, who authenticated them recently.

“At the time, of course, if business was done you paid with gold and silver,” Hall said. “A lot of international and domestic transactions, you couldn't send them bank wire or use your PayPal account, or your iPhone to pay.”

The face value of the gold pieces adds up to about $27,000, but a coin that dates to 1866 is valued between $500,000 and $1 million, said Hall, who has been doing business in Santa Ana for 28 years.

“I don't like to say once-in-a-lifetime for anything, but you don't get an opportunity to handle this kind of material, a treasure like this, ever,” said veteran numismatist Don Kagin, who is representing the finders. “It's like they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Kagin would say little about the couple other than that they are husband and wife, are middle-age and have lived for years on the rural property in the Gold Country. The pair wish to remain anonymous, he said, in part to avoid a renewed, modern-day gold rush to their property.

They also don't want to be treated differently, said David McCarthy, chief numismatist for Kagin Inc. of Tiburon. “Their concern was this would change the way everyone else would look at them, and they're pretty happy with the lifestyle they have today,” he said.

What makes the find particularly valuable, McCarthy said, is that almost all the coins are in near-perfect condition. Because paper money was illegal until the 1870s, he added, it's extremely rare to find coins of such high quality from that era.

The coins – in $5, $10 and $20 denominations – were stored more or less in chronological order in six cans, McCarthy said. Most were minted in San Francisco, but one $5 gold piece came from Georgia.

Kagin and McCarthy would say little about the couple's property or its ownership history. The discovery of gold in 1848 at Sutter's Mill, about 50 miles northeast of Sacramento, set off the California Gold Rush.

Kagin is calling the find the Saddle Ridge Hoard, a term derived from the couple's nickname for the section of their property where the coins were found.

He said they plan to put most of the coins up for sale through Amazon while holding onto a few keepsakes. Before the coins are sold, some will be lent to the American Numismatic Association for its National Money Show, which opens Thursday in Atlanta.

“Every four or five years something great happens,” Hall said. “An old-time collection is sold that's spectacular. ... This discovery I guess, call it the first major one of the 21st century.

“It's literally a buried treasure find. It's like finding a Rembrandt in the wall of a house you're tearing down. It's far more significant than a ‘Storage Wars' find.”

The Associated Press and staff writer Alejandra Molina contributed to this report.

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